Who will win the NASCAR Carfax 400?
Are you ready for another weekend of fast cars?
The 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series heads up north to the Michigan International Speedway for the Carfax 400, the first of two stops at MIS this year.
Michigan is a two-mile D-shaped oval (so to speak) with 18 degrees of banking in the turns. People describe it as a sister track to either California or Texas Speedway, although similar track lengths do not really mean the tracks are otherwise similar.
Michigan International Speedway’s Aug. 16 NASCAR Sprint Cup race will be called the Carfax 400 under terms of a title sponsorship agreement that has been announced with the company that provides vehicle history reports.
The company, which will be the title sponsor of a Cup race for the first time, is also sponsoring the NASCAR Nationwide Series Carfax 250 at the track. The doubleheader marks the first time MIS has had the same corporate sponsor for both NASCAR events on the same weekend.
The Cup series has been racing at Michigan twice a year since 1969, except in 1973 when the track was visited just once. Mark Martin has the most wins here among active drivers with four, though he’s also made more starts than many other drivers, 46 in all. Martin’s last win here was in 1998 and all four of his wins came in Roush Fords, as this is his first season with Hendrick Motorsports.
Bobby Labonte has three wins at Michigan and several other drivers have two a piece, including Jeff Gordon, Carl Edwards, Ryan Newman, Matt Kenseth, Kurt Busch, and Greg Biffle.
One-time winners at MIS include Tony Stewart, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kasey Kahne.
Many tracks around the Sprint Cup circuit are known to favor the Chevy teams, but Michigan is not one of them. In the past 20 MIS races including both annual race dates, only two have been won by a Chevy driver, Jeff Gordon in June 2001 and Dale Earnhardt Jr. last June in a fuel mileage win. Six races were won by Dodge drivers and 12 by Fords during that time frame.
The Roush Fords in particular have had recent success at Michigan, finding Victory Lane in five of the last ten races, including two each by Greg Biffle and Carl Edwards, and a win in August 2006 by Matt Kenseth.
Edwards, in fact, leads all drivers in the average finish category with a low 6.6, bettering teammate Kenseth who has a 9.1. In nine Michigan starts, Carl has two wins and eight top-10 finishes.
Following Edwards and Kenseth in the average finish category are Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart, David Ragan, Mark Martin, and Greg Biffle.
Not surprisingly, Edwards also leads all drivers in terms of points accumulated here in the last five races, followed by Stewart, Earnhardt Jr., Kenseth, and Jimmie Johnson. Although Johnson has never won at MIS, he has finished as high as third, with one DNF in 14 starts.
Who will win the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Carfax 400 this weekend? SPORTSBETTING.com has the odds.
Jeff Gordon 7-1
Dale Earnhardt Jr. 50-1
Jimmie Johnson 5-1
Carl Edwards 7-1
Want more odds? Visit SPORTSBETTING.com for more NASCAR betting odds. Want to watch NASCAR live? Get sporting events tickets online now.
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